A while back there was a television ad for a car company in which two strangers
went into a grocery store at the same time and bought all the same things, they
were even dressed alike...right down to the thongs on their feet. For those not
familiar, thongs are cheap little sandals with a strap between the toes that
make a very distinct "thwap-thwap" sound when you walk. I was
discussing ads with my niece (for those who have read my guestbook...yes, that
niece) and was describing that one to her. When I came to the part about the
thongs, I got a very odd look from her and she asked, "How could you tell
they were wearing thongs?" and I answered, "because of the sound they
made when they walked". Then she really looked at me funny...it took me a
minute to figure out we weren't talking about the same kind of thongs!
Peace, man...
Some years ago, my brother-in-law, a baby boomer, heard there was a new young
woman working in his office. Being a neighbourly sort, he went to the new
woman's cubby to welcome her. After exchanging pleasantries, he thought he'd
best get back to work and on his way out he held up two fingers in a "peace
sign". His much younger new colleague looked at him and said,
"Two?"
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...
At the Holidays in 1996,
my sister and her family invited me along on a little post-Christmas trip to the
resort town of Ocean Shores in Washington State. We set out early on
Boxing Day morning (December 26, for my American friends) from Vancouver, where
the sun was shining and the birds were singing. As we were leaving town we
heard a report on the radio that there was quite a little snow storm blowing
through Seattle...but thinking, "we're Canadian...blizzard, shmizzard",
we set out on our way. When we got to the border, the U.S. guard asked
where we were going and when we told him our destination he looked incredulous
and asked us, "Why?". We took that to be a standard border
question...as in "What is the purpose of your visit?" and answered
that we were going on vacation. His response was somewhat sarcastic
sounding, "Good Luck"...and we still didn't catch on. A couple
of hours later as we approached Seattle, the snow began to fall...and by the
time we were in the city itself, I-5 was covered with about 4 inches of compact
snow, rutted by tire chains (which, of course, we didn't have) and the snow was
still falling. On the Seattle radio stations all we heard were advisories
that unless you absolutely had to be on the road it was wise to stay at home.
My sister, not the most relaxed traveler at the best of times, was sitting in
the backseat of their mini-van trying to be helpful by pointing out to her
husband (the driver) just how treacherous the road was becoming. After a
little while, my brother-in-law had had enough of the doomsayers on the radio
and in the backseat and decided to pop a cassette tape in the car stereo...so
without taking his eyes off the road he reached down into the tape case and
popped the first one that fell into his hand into the player. The tension
in the car eased considerably as Fred Penner came to life, belting out
"Ain't Gonna Rain No More, No More".
A while back there was a television ad for a car company in which two strangers
went into a grocery store at the same time and bought all the same things, they
were even dressed alike...right down to the thongs on their feet. For those not
familiar, thongs are cheap little sandals with a strap between the toes that
make a very distinct "thwap-thwap" sound when you walk. I was
discussing ads with my niece (for those who have read my guestbook...yes, that
niece) and was describing that one to her. When I came to the part about the
thongs, I got a very odd look from her and she asked, "How could you tell
they were wearing thongs?" and I answered, "because of the sound they
made when they walked". Then she really looked at me funny...it took me a
minute to figure out we weren't talking about the same kind of thongs!
At the Holidays in 1996,
my sister and her family invited me along on a little post-Christmas trip to the
resort town of Ocean Shores in Washington State. We set out early on
Boxing Day morning (December 26, for my American friends) from Vancouver, where
the sun was shining and the birds were singing. As we were leaving town we
heard a report on the radio that there was quite a little snow storm blowing
through Seattle...but thinking, "we're Canadian...blizzard, shmizzard",
we set out on our way. When we got to the border, the U.S. guard asked
where we were going and when we told him our destination he looked incredulous
and asked us, "Why?". We took that to be a standard border
question...as in "What is the purpose of your visit?" and answered
that we were going on vacation. His response was somewhat sarcastic
sounding, "Good Luck"...and we still didn't catch on. A couple
of hours later as we approached Seattle, the snow began to fall...and by the
time we were in the city itself, I-5 was covered with about 4 inches of compact
snow, rutted by tire chains (which, of course, we didn't have) and the snow was
still falling. On the Seattle radio stations all we heard were advisories
that unless you absolutely had to be on the road it was wise to stay at home.
My sister, not the most relaxed traveler at the best of times, was sitting in
the backseat of their mini-van trying to be helpful by pointing out to her
husband (the driver) just how treacherous the road was becoming. After a
little while, my brother-in-law had had enough of the doomsayers on the radio
and in the backseat and decided to pop a cassette tape in the car stereo...so
without taking his eyes off the road he reached down into the tape case and
popped the first one that fell into his hand into the player. The tension
in the car eased considerably as Fred Penner came to life, belting out
"Ain't Gonna Rain No More, No More".